Pastor's abortion dream inflames bushfire tragedy - The Catch the Fire Ministries has tried to blame the bushfires disaster on laws decriminalising abortion in Victoria. The Pentecostal church's leader, Pastor Danny Nalliah, claimed he had a dream about raging fires on October 21 last year and that he woke with "a flash from the Spirit of God: that His conditional protection has been removed from the nation of Australia ... Asked if he believed in a God who would take vengeance by killing so many people indiscriminately - even those who opposed abortion, Mr Nalliah referred to 2 Chronicles 7:14 to vouch for his assertion that God could withdraw his protection from a nation.

"The Bible is very clear," he said. "If you walk out of God's protection and turn your back on Him, you are an open target for the devil to destroy."

In news reports, officials have declared that some of the fires may have been deliberately set by arsonists. One has to wonder if any of them were disciples of Mr Nalliah?

A furious Peter Costello has rounded on a Christian cult for suggesting the Victorian bushfires were divine retribution for the state's abortion laws, describing it as "beyond the bounds of decency". Just three weeks ago, the former federal treasurer sent a video message to a special Australia Day prayer meeting organised by Catch the Fire Ministries leader Danny Nalliah.

But he reacted angrily to a statement by Mr Nalliah yesterday recalling a dream concerning the consequences of Victorian abortion legislation that became law last year. ... "To link the death and the suffering of bushfire victims to other political events is appalling, heartless and wrong," he said. "Those who have suffered deserve every support and sympathy. It is beyond the bounds of decency to try to make moral or political points out of such a tragedy."

I'm glad the media is not sugar coating the vileness that best describes these fringe groups. Too many people think there is no such thing as extreme social conservatives among Christian sects and submit to the incremental changes promoted by their lobby groups. There's quite a few of them in Harper's own caucus who are chummy with Chuck McVety.

If and when they find the Victoria arsonists, I hope they definitely tie them to this "Catch the Fire" prophet if that turns out to be the case.